‘Out of Character’ – Sir John Soane’s Museum

Studio Mutt approached us to create four ‘Characters’ – Monk, Lawyer, Architect and Magician, which Sir John Soane wrote about in his text ‘Crude Hints towards an History of my House’, wherein he ‘imagined his home as a ruin, centuries in the future, inspected by visitors who speculate upon it’s origins and function.

In particular Soane suggested that visitors might infer the museum to have been inhabited by four characters: a Lawyer, a Monk, a Magician and an Architect.’

The four ‘characters’ as designed by Studio Mutt are brightly coloured pieces – the first new additions to the museum in 180 years.

We built them out of MDF, brass, fabric, found objects and dibond. All the MDF elements were hand made, then wrapped in coloured vinyl or painted in our studio, giving a vibrant and striking look with some complex designs and patterns, within a very short time frame.

Other pieces were sewn, laser cut from brass, etched and painted to complete the ‘characters’.

They will be on view in the museum from 12th September 2018 until 18th November 2018. Entrance is free.